Bangladesh is set to celebrate Pohela Boishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year on Thursday, upholding the rich cultural values and rituals of the country.
The Bangla Naboborsho 1429 festival is also going to be celebrated at its traditional venue Ramna Park in Dhaka for the first time in two years due to the Covid-19 situation.
The day is a public holiday.
This year, the event will be celebrated following all rituals at the venue along with bringing out the traditional Mongol Shobhajatra (procession) organized by the Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University.
But, due to the ongoing holy month of Ramadan, it will be celebrated on a limited scale.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Shafiqul Islam has said all public events marking Pohela Boishakh must be ended by 2pm, due to the month of Ramadan.
"Keeping in mind the holy month of Ramadan and traffic, all activities for this Bangla New Year and the Pohela Boishakh celebrations will have to be completed by 2pm and none will be allowed to enter Ramna Park after 1pm," he said.
Shafiqul made the remarks after inspecting the security arrangements at Ramna Park on Tuesday.
Besides, no food stalls will remain open on this day as Muslim devotees perform fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
People are expected to join the festivities across the country, particularly in the capital city.
Pohela Boishakh is one of the most colourful festivals through which the Bangalis bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.
On this occasion, people from all walks of life wear traditional dresses.
Young women wear white sarees with red borders and adorn themselves with bangles, flowers, and teeps, while men wear white pajamas and panjabi or kurta.
The government has also drawn up an elaborate program.
The Mongol Shobhajatra will be brought out at divisional, district and upazila levels to reach the traditional program to the grassroots as it has earned international recognition.
Business communities, especially in the rural areas, are ready to open their traditional “Halkhata”, new account books. On the day traders also offer sweets to customers.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are expected to issue separate messages greeting the countrymen on the eve of the Pohela Boishakh.
Different government and non-government organizations, socio-cultural platforms, including Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Bangla Academy, Department of Public Libraries, the National Museum, Kabi Nazrul Institute, Copyright Office, National Book Centre, Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the Department of Archives and Library and Dhaka University will hold various programs along with seminars, exhibitions and quiz, essay and art compositions to observe the day.
As part of the Bangla New Year celebrations, Boishakhi rallies will be organized in all districts, upazilas, and unions of the country.
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy will organize a two-day program marking the day.
New Year fairs and cultural programs will be organized by Bscic on the premises of Bangla Academy and Bangladesh Folk Arts and Crafts Foundation.
The programs of the day usually begin in the city with the musical soiree of Chhayanat, a leading cultural organization in the country.
However, the Chhayanat is asked to wrap up its celebration programs by 11am while the authority concerned are advised to end the fair activities on Ramna premises by 2pm so that people could go back to their homes or convenient places to have their iftar of Ramadan month.
Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar, and private television channels will live broadcast the programs.
The city people usually start the day with the traditional breakfast of “Panta Bhat” (soaked rice), green chili, onion and fried fish at Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Uddyan, Dhaka University Campus, Rabindra Sarobar at Dhanmondi, and other places.
But, this year, no food stalls will remain open on this day as it is not permitted.
Graffiti will be painted on the walls signifying the arts, culture, and heritage of the country.
Bangla New Year will be celebrated in all educational institutions under their own management in a festive atmosphere while elite city hotels and clubs will host special events and make traditional Bengali food.
On this occasion, all museum and archaeological sites will remain open for all while children, students, people with disabilities, and autism will be allowed to visit the museum free of cost.
Improved traditional food will be distributed to jail inmates, and patients in hospitals, and orphanages on the occasion.
Bangladesh missions abroad will also organize different programs to welcome the New Year.
The law enforcement agencies will take extensive security measures across the country so that people could celebrate the day.
Different national dailies will publish colourful supplements while Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar, and other private TV and radio channels will air special programs highlighting the significance of Pohela Boishakh.
Some historians attribute the Bangla calendar to the seventh-century king Shashanka, which was later modified by Mughal emperor Akbar for the purpose of tax collection.
During the Mughal rule, land taxes were collected from people according to the Islamic Hijri calendar. This calendar was a lunar calendar, and its new year did not coincide with the solar agricultural cycles.
Akbar asked the royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to create a new calendar by combining the lunar Islamic calendar and solar Hindu calendar already in use, and this was known as “Fasholi Shan” (harvest calendar).
